LONDON – (This review is a little bit late being posted – flights were delayed due to technical reasons and weather and then my luggage was lost. The joys of living on an island! It’s here now though!)

Monday 13th June, London, UK – Surely one of the best shows on the European leg of the XXX-Tour? Having only experienced this one show on this tour so far, I can’t compare to previous shows. But if the crowd response and the social media comments after the show are anything to go by then, yes, this show was well up there!

I’m proud of the UK Fans for welcoming Roxette so warmly at what is considered one of the most prestige concert arena’s in the world. I was a little sceptical at first as the UK audience can be a little quiet and subdued – this certainly wasn’t the case on Monday night. As soon as the lights went down and as the band were entering the stage the audience around me jumped up and were ready to party!

Let’s back track though – Eskobar. I don’t really know much about them. Their lead singer, Daniel, has a good voice and even through the arena wasn’t very full at this time, the British crowd clapped politely at the end of each track. Once Eskobar had finished, Micke N-S and gang prepared the stage for Rox to enter. And when Roxette did enter – WOW. The audience reaction was amazing! The sheer volume of cheers/shouts/screams and claps for Marie and Per was so loud.

The setlist was no different to previous shows. The flow of the songs seemed to work better than the Charm School tour, in my opinion. Should ‘Almost Unreal’ have been added to the setlist? It would have been nice as the song reached its highest worldwide chart position in the UK back in 1993, but that is the only major negative aspect about the concert.

Per was interacting a lot of the first few rows of the crowd and Marie was adding a few little touches to certain songs which was great. From the smiles on their faces it was clear that they were enjoying playing for such a large crowd. This brings me onto Marie herself. After seeing various YouTube videos and pictures from previous shows, I wasn’t sure what to expect. How would the audience react? How would I react? It seemed I didn’t need to worry. Being sat on the stool brings confidence and attitude that would not have been apparent if Marie was standing in her current condition. Marie’s facial expressions are pure old-skool MF and her vocals are still outstanding – The ending of ‘Listen To Your Heart’ was better than any of the shows I saw on the Charm School tour. Seriously.

After the last notes of ‘The Look’ played out, the band took their bow and the audience gave the loudest cheer of the night. When Per and Marie were walking off arm in arm and turned around to face the audience for the last time, the UK crowd really showed their appreciation. The end to a truly great night.

I thought it was strange that only one UK date was announced. However thinking back, this might have been a good thing. All of the UK’s biggest fans traveled from all over the country to attend the one concert rather than attending one in Manchester or Birmingham for example. This could explain why the audience reacted the way they did.

After the show I wanted to check out the social media comments. There were so many positive tweets that were posted during and shortly after the show. The #roxette hashtag was the number 4 trending topic in the UK that night as well. UK media, who can be known for their negative attitude, have also posted glowing reports about the gig.

As for the future, as we know, there are only a handful of dates that have been announced. I was a little concerned that no further dates would be announced. After seeing this show on Monday night, I see no reason why – if Marie is up for it – that this tour could not continue into 2016 as originally planned. Everything is working so well at the moment that it would be such a shame if this was to end in August. As we wait for any news on further live dates, let’s look forward to the release of the remake of ‘The Look’ and the new album – after all, Roxette fans are used to having patience!

More pictures to follow once my camera and my lost luggage arrives back with me!